In which period did the phoenix and bird motif flourish?

The phoenix and bird motifs were very popular at the end of the Yin and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty as the theme decoration, and reached their peak in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, while the bird motifs declined after the late Western Zhou Dynasty and disappeared during the Warring States Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

The phoenix is a sacred bird in ancient Chinese mythology, and it is a divine creature made of the fusion of different animals in nature. The phoenix is the king of all birds and one of the four spirits. As a bird, the male bird is called phoenix and the female bird is called phoenix.

As early as in the Neolithic era unearthed on the pottery, there are depictions of simple bird pattern image, some experts believe that this bird pattern that is the prototype of the phoenix, the image of the bird pattern has been continued until the Six Dynasties period.

Specific examples:

Western Zhou to the Warring States period primitive blue-glazed porcelain on the image of the bird, Zhenjiang Museum collection of Spring and Autumn blue-glazed primitive porcelain bird decorated with a lid jar, 24 cm in height, 13.5 cm in caliber, 16.5 cm in diameter at the bottom. The cover is rounded and curved, the cover knob is the image of a bird, the ware oblique square lip, wasteful mouth, curved abdomen, flat bottom, shoulder decorated with water wave pattern, abdomen decorated with rice sieve pattern, the tire gray-white, glaze is not to the bottom, glaze green in yellow.

Han to the Six Dynasties period, the image of the bird has Zhu Bird, luan bird, red bird, peng and other kinds of birds, the image is similar, are the phoenix bird variations and alienation, is the phoenix pattern colorful forms of expression. Such as the Zhenjiang museum collection of three countries wu yue kiln blue glaze flying bird hundred play stacking porcelain jar, 47.5 cm high, caliber 9.9 cm, abdominal diameter of 28.5 cm, bottom diameter of 15.7 cm.

The overall shape of the large pot in the plate mouth and belly stacked on a three-storey hipped pavilion with double que, the top of the mouth of the pot gathered in the neck and wings of the group of birds and four small pots, the pavilion surrounded by dancing and acrobatic figurines, beasts and so on. At this time, the bird pattern is considered to be able to guide the human soul to heaven.